Individuals suffering from low back pain caused by musculoskeletal dysfunction can benefit from the use of back braces that stabilize the lumbar spine by limiting anterior/posterior and/or medial/lateral movement. There are a multitude of braces and supports used for this purpose. The braces typically include a rigid or semi-rigid back section belted to the wearer. For instance, a very rigid back support might be prescribed after back surgery to absolutely limit spinal movement to promote the healing process. Less rigid materials would be used, for instance, to permit some movement but at the same time provide some support of the lumbar spine. Belts with a buckle or hook and loop-type fastener material are typically used to tighten and to secure the brace about the wearer's mid-section. Thus worn, back braces offer support and limitation of movement aimed at the underlying pathology of the wearer.
Additionally, it is well known that an increase in the compression of an individual's abdominal area will result in a decrease in compression of their lumbar spine. As such, compression of the lumbar spine into the back portion of a brace by lifting and pulling an abdominal section into a wearer's abdomen offers some decompression of the lumbar spine and will tend to reduce associated lower back pain. Unfortunately, many of the back braces available today do not have an abdominal support member. Those presently available braces that do provide an abdominal support member do not allow the wearer to alter the support given by the brace, thus limiting the flexibility of the wearer and his or her treatment modality.
Additionally, presently available braces have met with limited success because they are, for the most part, cumbersome to put on and take off. Moreover, such braces are difficult, if not impossible, to tighten and secure by an infirm patient suffering from low-back pain. Many braces require their wearers to have assistance cinching the braces to the desired compression. As such, patient compliance with the prescribed use of back braces is less than ideal.
Many of the presently available braces have various pieces of exposed hardware used for tightening or fastening which can irritate or chafe the wearer's skin. The exposed hardware can also make donning and wearing such braces difficult due to the propensity of the exposed hardware to catch or snag on articles of clothing and other items thus limiting the utility of the brace. There remains a need for an improved lumbar support system that can be easily donned and cinched by the wearer without the aide of others that will not be susceptible to snagging on the wearer's clothing or other items.
Accordingly, problems associated with the known art include: (1) difficulty in donning and doffing the brace; (2) difficulty in cinching the brace due to the wearer's inability to tighten the brace by his or her own efforts; (3) exposed fastening and tightening hardware; and (4) the lack of sufficient abdominal support. The following art provides examples:
U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,609, which issued to Heinze, III, discloses a compound brace with a two-piece abdominal support pad and a back support pad. The brace also contains a multi-belt tightening system that loops the belts through various slots in the back support pad and the abdominal support pads. The back and abdominal support pads are secured and tightened about the wearer by pulling the ends of the outer belt and fastening the ends to the device with hook and loop fastener material. However, the wearer is required to pull the outer tightening belt ends in an awkward direction for the wearer, especially when the wearer suffers from low back pain or other physical infirmity. Moreover, the Heinze, III brace is difficult to cinch to the desired compression. The tightening belt passes through slots in the stiff brace members, which cause friction and tend to limit the wearer's ability to cinch the brace tightly around his or her mid-section. Because the slots in the support pads are exposed, the wearer's clothing can become entangled in the slots, limiting the brace's usefulness.
Similarly, Lelli, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,363,863, discloses a lumbar support belt with a back pad and a two-piece abdominal support section. However, this device fails to overcome the problem associated with donning and doffing the brace by a wearer with limited physical strength without the assistance of another. In order to adequately compress the brace, the wearer must have sufficient physical strength to buckle the abdominal support pads together.
The Striano U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,260 features a brace with a posterior shell and a flexible fabric support belt to secure the brace about the wearer. This simple structure does not, however, provide for abdominal support to aid in the effectiveness of the brace. Additionally, the cinching hardware of the device disclosed by Striano can become entangled by the wearer's clothing during donning.
The Muncy U.S. Pat. No. 5,569,171 features a simple two-piece device intended to preclude rotation of the wearer's lumbar spine. Although the Muncy brace includes an abdominal support member, it does not facilitate problems associated with self-securing the brace by the wearer.
Although the art reveals braces that provide support to the wearer's abdominal region, none are structured as in the present device, for providing stiffeners of varying rigidity to accommodate the wearer's specific compressive needs. Examples include the following:
The patent which issued to Beczak, Sr., et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,634,891, shows a corset-type orthotic device which, although having an abdominal section, does not provide a structure to adjustably support the abdomen of the wearer with a rigid or semi-rigid member.
Pearson, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,424, provides a flexible cushion in an abdominal section, but does not allow for varying the degree of abdominal support or varying the range of a wearer's motion by altering the rigidity of the abdominal support member.
The Heinze III and Lelli, et al. devices, noted above, provide multi-piece abdominal support sections, but neither device allows the wearer to selectively alter the rigidity of the abdominal section.
By contrast, the device of the present invention is designed to permit the wearer to put on and take off the brace with ease and to cinch the support members of the device to the desired compression without the aid of others, a mode heretofore unknown. The combination of the double D-ring tightening system and the abdominal support member ensure ease of use of the brace, especially for wearers of limited strength due to low-back pain or other infirmity. This combination of easy donning and unassisted tightening ensures patient compliance, thus aiding the healing process. An additional benefit of the present invention is that the D-rings used to cinch the device are covered to prevent entanglement with the wearer's clothing or other items. Further, the cloth casing of the brace can be easily cleaned and washed.